Approaching Seller Directly

Hi, I am interested in viewing and making an offer on a property however the estate agent will not come back to me to confirm a viewing after 3 weeks of trying. The agent originally advised me that she forgot to contact the vendor for the viewing and then that the vendor didn't return her call. It seems the agent is not bothered with the property as the vendor rejected another offer (below asking price) a couple of months ago. We would improve on this offer. I've spoken the the agent 5 times and made 3 texts re a viewing and have never had one reply. At this stage we are thinking of approaching the seller directly. We would welcome any advice on approching the seller directly?

I would go to the seller. The only person doing anything wrong here is the estate agent. The owner of property will be glad you made them aware that the estate agent is not doing there job.
I heard of a case recently where the estate agent takes little or no viewings for a period of time and encourages the owner to drop the asking price by x amount. Suddenly there's an offer. From who? A friend/family of the estate agent!

Hi, dean, we are starting to think the agent may be up to something as the asking price is reasonable and there have been 5,000 hits on daft. If we approach the seller we do not want to tell them how bad the agent is as if they change and get a good agent we might be priced out!

Well you can't put an offer in if you can't even get a viewing. So your options are minimal.

I have done this, do not be shy, you are doing nothing wrong, worst case is that the seller refers you back to the agent, better still if nobody is at home when you try, suggest you have a note prepared to leave in their letterbox with your contact details and some background by way of explanation...

I would just knock on the door and say you are interested in the house but that the EA won't make an appointment to see it, they should then let you in to see the house. That's if they are actually interested in selling.

Might be playing games with a bank and not interested in selling, that's another possibility.

Knock on the door and let them know your intentions. It may not be a good time for the them there and then to let you view but they may organsie something suitable. Also, it would let know what the EA is up to. Silly being shy about. If its a property your genuiely interested in then no harm.

I'm really not convinced about all these conspiracy theories in relation to estate agents. I think you'll find that there is always a reason why an estate agent is not responding and the reason is usually something to do with the vendor. The vendor has either put it on-hold, is considering an alternative bid, negotiating with his / her bank on the side, has given specific instructions to the agent regarding the profile of buyer required etc etc etc.

If I was selling such a house, I would not want people knocking on my door and definitely would not entertain them. The agent is the representative of the seller, end of story. Go visit the estate agent face to face and find out what the problem is.
If the agent is not taking you seriously, put your cards on the table and make it clear how you plan to pay for the house etc etc.

If you really like the property and you really want to buy it, by-passing and irritating the appointed agent is not the way to go. In a buoyant market, the agent is often able to influence the outcome of the sale and its better to have him on side than not.

Agents are usually desparate to earn commissions and/or meeting targets. There is a reason why the agent is not engaging. You need to find out why.

Dr. Debt I disagree with what you're saying. Conspiracy theories or not, the estate agent must do everything to sell the house and it's obvious they're not in this case. It's a simple demand and supply issue. Buyer wants to buy and by the looks of it, the seller wants to sell. Haggling etc is part and parcel of course but not taking viewings??
Having the estate agent on your side is nonsense. It's a financial transaction, kissing his/her a*** wont lower the price for the buyer.
Docker I suggest get one or two friends to ring to get a viewing and see how you go

With respect, I think you are misunderstanding. The agents job is not always "to do everything to sell the house" His job is to take instructions from the client and nothing else.

You might not believe me but sometimes clients can be difficult. Sometimes they are prone to changing their minds, sometimes prone to stalling, scheming or talking about delaying in the hope of prices going up. Sometimes unsure about what price they will settle for. While the client is sometimes working through these issues, it might seem that the agent is fooling around when clearly they are just waiting for the client to give them the go ahead or clear instructions. Sometimes there are bank issues involved and negative equity. Sometimes marriage breakdown and squabbling between the parties. All of this goes on all the time.

Its easy to think that the guy who's on the frontline is the one at fault but in my experience its very seldom the case.

As I said already get face to face with the estate agent and you might then get some idea of whats really happening behind the scenes

It doesn't make any sense to believe your theory. If estate agents don't sell, they don't get paid and believe me, they like to get paid. If the agent is not arranging a viewing, there is a reason for that.

I beg to differ with you also when you say that its not important to have the estate agent on side. It is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT.

That's my 2 cents worth, Its my genuine experience through many many property transactions

deansmith27 said:

I would go to the seller. The only person doing anything wrong here is the estate agent. The owner of property will be glad you made them aware that the estate agent is not doing there job.
I heard of a case recently where the estate agent takes little or no viewings for a period of time and encourages the owner to drop the asking price by x amount. Suddenly there's an offer. From who? A friend/family of the estate agent!

Click to expand...

I agree wholeheartedly.

Thanks for resposes. The fact the the agent won't even return a call or give us anyfeed back in relation to why she can't arrange a viewing for us gives us no option but to approach the seller. The house is owner occupier so we are going to approach them early next week. I do take on board dr.debts points re importance of keeping agent on board. We are not even going to mention the agent so there should be no reason for the agent to get upset here. I'll update later in the week. Thanks,